May 11, 2011

COWS ThinkTank: Public employees not the cause of Wisconsin's budget woes

A new policy brief from COWS offers data on Wisconsin's public-sector workers. They are neither the 'haves' Governor Scott Walker makes them out to be, nor are they the cause of Wisconsin's budget shortfall.

The brief, Wisconsin's Public Employees: A Foundation for Quality of Life in the State, presents information answering key questions:

•Are public-sector workers overpaid? No.
•Is the public sector bloated in Wisconsin? No.
•How do public employees' concessions affect take home pay? The less you earn, the more you lose.
•Public-sector workers: The source of Wisconsin's budget deficit? No.

Some 383,300 Wisconsin workers hold full- or part-time jobs in the public sector, and three of four of these workers are employed by local units of government. Public workers provide the education, public safety, and other public infrastructure that is a foundation for quality of life in the state.

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Michael Leon is a writer living in Madison, Wisconsin. His reporting has been recognized by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. Leon's writing has appeared nationally in The Progressive, The Advocate, In These Times, CounterPunch and The Champion—the journal of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and locally in the Isthmus, the Capital Times and the Fitchburg Star. Leon works as a writer, editor, veterans' advocate, and public relations consultant.